ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) Attaullah Tarar Tuesday lauded Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for effectively highlighting the climate change impacts on Pakistan, besides the Kashmir issue during his maiden address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in his address to the UNGA has effectively pointed out the negative impacts of climate change on Pakistan and highlighted plight of the Kashmiris in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir,” the SAPM said while addressing a news conference in Islamabad.

The PM in his address said that despite negligible carbon emissions, Pakistan’s economy and people were paying the dual cost of climate injustice and high global warming causing massive flash floods which required the world leaders to take immediate remedial actions.

He said the PM also highlighted that Pakistan had never seen a starker and more devastating example of the impact of Global Warming. “Life in Pakistan has changed forever,” he quoted PM as saying.

On the Kashmir issue, he noted that the PM said Pakistan desired peace with all its neighbours including India, however, sustainable peace and stability in South Asia remained contingent upon a just and lasting solution to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.

Tarar said the PM in UNGA pointed out that India’s ruthless campaign of repression against Kashmiris had continued to grow in scale and intensity. In pursuit of this heinous goal, New Delhi had ramp up its military deployments in occupied Jammu and Kashmir to 900,000 troops, thus making it the most militarized zone in the world.

SAPM criticized the harassment of Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb by the goons of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in London and demanded prosecution of the culprits.

He criticized PTI Chairman Imran Khan for polluting the minds of youths.

He said the toxic impacts of Imran’s politics of hate and division had saddened him and this tendency should be stopped. The culprits should be awarded exemplary punishment, he added.

Tarar said that he would submit an application the ministry of interior for the revocation of the character certificates and passports of the people involved in the incident.

He said that the government of the UK would also be approached for seeking action against the culprits and conveying the concerns of the people of Pakistan.

Attaullah Tarar said in the testing times when the people of Punjab were badly hit by the flood, the provincial government moved a summary of Rs 1.3 billion to purchase new vehicles for ministers and advisors.

He accused Chief Minister Punjab Pervaiz Elahi of becoming a hurdle in proroguing the Punjab Assembly session which had been going on for the last four months. About Rs.1.2 billion had been spent on the current session of the Punjab Assembly, he added.

The SAPM said it seemed that the CM Punjab had lost majority in the PA and feared that he would be asked for the vote of confidence by the governor if the session prorogued.

He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had visited the flood-hit areas of the country and met with the affected families in KPK, Punjab Balochistan and Sindh provinces.

The SAPM said Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and his son were acting as a facilitator of Imran Khan to arrange political gatherings in the province. “Pervaiz Elahi has not visited the flood-hit areas,” he alleged.

Attaullah Tarar said the PTI leaders were using Punjab province resources to promote their anti-state narrative. He said that Pervaiz Elahi had distributed about 832 jobs among his favourite.

To a question, he said that it was unfortunate that CM Punjab said that the federal government had not given any funds to the flood victims in the province. The federal government has distributed about Rs4 billion among flood victims through BISP, tents and food packets.

He asked in which capacity Moonis Elahi was attending the official meetings of Punjab government.

He also expressed concerns on allowing Imran Khan to use the university platforms to promote his anti-state narrative.